Ready, Willing and Able

A great deal of credited and uncredited writing talent went into this screenplay expansion of Richard Macaulay's Saturday Evening Post story about a songwriting duo in New York City who are promised show-money if they can get land a musical-comedy starlet from the London stage for their latest production, "Fair Lady" (!). Busy, friendly musical has some good wisecracking lines, but not enough star-power in the cast. Ruby Keeler has a rather inert role as a would-be performer who is hired for the lead by mistake, yet it's a part which doesn't allow her to shine (only to be a shrinking violet). Keeler does do a tap-dance routine on the keys of a huge typewriter, but the choreography is lax (despite netting an Oscar nomination!) and certainly isn't as imaginative as the set design. Real-life songwriting team Johnny Mercer and Richard Whiting contributed several songs, though the best of them ("Too Marvelous For Words") is sung ad nauseum. ** from ****

Ready Willing and Able (Warner Brothers, 1937). I finally had a chance to see this film and I have to admit, it's a cute little film from Warner Brothers in the late 30's. The actors seem like as though they are having a lot of fun and the musical numbers especially "Too Marvelous for Words" and "Just a Quiet Evening" are great. However, while watching this film, I feel a little sad for the late Ross Alexander who plays Barry Granville. Ross Alexander was very talented, nice looking, and had a great screen presence, but I guess Warners didn't know what to do with him. It seems as though his role was originally intended for Dick Powell, but he may have been unavailable. Keeler and Alexander have good screen chemistry and if he didn't die, maybe they would have made more films together.

Overall, a nice way to pass time. Definitely check out it.

Mistaken for a famous British singing star, an American college girl decides she's READY, WILLING AND ABLE to conquer Broadway - especially after meeting the young scriptwriter who's producing the play...

A fine example of the musical comedies which Warner Brothers seemed to produce so effortlessly during the 1930's, it's a shame this film has become so obscure. With good production values & a snappy storyline, it's still a pleasant entertainment. The major missing component is Busby Berkeley; the final production number, with Ruby Keeler & dancer Lee Dixon hoofing it upon the keys of a giant typewriter, fairly cries for the Master to send it over the top.

Pert & pretty, Miss Keeler is, as always, much fun to watch. Many of her scenes are given the added attractions of the lovely Carol Hughes, playing her best friend. Wini Shaw, as a singer with too much past & tart-tongued secretary Jane Wyman also contribute to the fun.

The comedy relief is largely handled by Allen Jenkins as a loudmouthed agent, Louise Fazenda as a faded Shakespearean actress & Hugh O'Connell as a society fuddy-duddy. Comic cameos by E. E. Clive & Lillian Kemble-Cooper as an English knight & lady, and Barnett Parker as a helpful British butler, are also welcome. Movie mavens will spot an unbilled Carlyle Moore Jr. as a dockside reporter.

Ultimately, though, there is sadness attached to this film. The leading man, Ross Alexander, shot himself before the film could be released. This was his final film; he was only 29. Born Ross Smith in Brooklyn in 1907, Alexander had the personality, talent & good looks which should have spelled significant stardom. But Hollywood is notoriously unpredictable, and Alexander, unhappy with the way his career was going & obviously still troubled by the gunshot suicide of his first wife in December of 1935, placed a pistol to his own head on January 2, 1937.

Once dead, it was Warner Brothers that paid him the final indignity. Having a completed film with a star who was not only deceased, but a suicide as well, was a bit more than the Studio wanted to deal with. So, cutting their losses, they gave Ross Alexander fifth place billing on the lineup of performers for READY, WILLING AND ABLE, where he should have received first or second.

Outside of his appearance in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1935), he is almost forgotten now. Ross Alexander was a victim of the Hollywood system and his own private anguish, each of which fed on the other. He should be remembered as a fine young actor, who, in a very few years, brought lots of enjoyment to movie audiences. This is typified by his best scene in READY, WILLING AND ABLE, where he introduces the Johnny Mercer lyrics for 'Too Marvelous For Words,' by gently reciting them to Ruby Keeler. It is a tremendously poignant few moments.

This film is of a long lost art--the lighthearted, unpretentious tuneful musical that provides breezy entertainment without apology. One number, "Be Handy With Your Feet," is actually rather catchy and fun, and shows Ruby Keeler off quite well. Even the chorines look like they're having fun. The casual opulence of the set (a kind of nightclub on an ocean liner) is another example of how even "B" films from a major studio gave a certain panache to frivolity far and above what was required. Overall, not bad at all.

As people have already noted, 'Ready, Willing and Able' is notable for being Ross Alexander's swansong before his tragic suicide and Ruby Keeler's last film for Warner Bros, but they certainly aren't the only notable factors of the film.

'Ready, Willing and Able' is not a great film, but it does have enough to make it watchable. Keeler is a very charming screen presence, and Alexander a likable leading man. Most of the supporting cast also fare well, with the hoots that are Allen Jenkins and Louisa Fazenda faring best. Wini Shaw is also very winning, as is Jane Wyman.

Of the song score, only one is really outstanding. That is the sublime "Too Marvellous for Words", though "Be Handy on Your Feet" is also catchy and "Just a Quiet Evening" very listenable. Don't remember much of the rest though. The classical music selections of Schumann, Chopin and Liszt are also a delight.

The film looks pretty good, apart from the odd tacky moment, it is very skilfully photographed and while not exactly expansive the set is generally a long way from cheap.

Conversely, to me Lee Dixon was wooden in acting and even more so in his dancing, which doesn't look natural or rhythmic at all. There is a lack of chemistry between Keeler and Dixon, though occasionally a sweet one with Alexander, just that one does miss Dick Powell (who one can't help thinking that he would have been a better choice). The story, even for a film musical, is overly simplistic, goes overboard with the silliness and dumbness and is as thin as thin ice.

Even flimsier is the hugely underwritten and dull script, that's far too lightweight. Of the choreography and dancing, the only one that stands out is the clever type-writing sequence. The others are pedestrian and under-cooked, am aware that one shouldn't expect Busby Bekeley to be involved in every film musical around this time but the songs generally did deserve better treatment than the indifference they were given here, this was a film that cried out for his involvement really.

All in all, watchable but not great. 5/10 Bethany Cox